Webinar Alert: Focusing on Truck Wireless Communication Technologies – Hosts: TIMTC, U.S. DOT, Feb 23

February 16, 2011 at 7:55 pm

Trucking industry stakeholders are invited to participate in a free webinar to discuss key policy and institutional challenges that could impact fleet adoption of new wireless communication technologies.  The particular technologies being discussed include communication technologies that allow trucks to “talk” to other vehicles and roadside infrastructure.  Through this webinar, motor carriers will be able to provide the U.S. DOT with direct feedback on technology implementation issues.

Presentations will include 1) a brief introduction on the U.S. DOT’s Truck Technology Policy program of research; 2) an overview of the potential value of the wireless connectivity technologies to the trucking industry and 3) a summary of related policy issues identified to date.  Feedback gathered from participants will be used to develop the Truck V2V/V2I Policy Roadmap and Research Agenda.

  • WHAT:            U.S. DOT’s Truck V2V/V2I Technology Policy Issues Webinar
  • WHEN:            Wednesday, February 23, 2011 1:00 to 3:00 EST
  • HOW:              Participants will need access to the internet and a telephone.  For your free registration, use the link below.  An automated email with instructions for joining the webinar will be sent to all registrants.

Please visit the TIMTC website at www.freightmobility.org to register for the webinar or click here

Interested in becoming involved with TIMTC?  Participation is free and provides the latest information and updates on trucking industry initiatives that improve the industry’s safety and mobility.  Send your contact information to TIMTC@trucking.org to receive your free membership.

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The Trucking Industry Mobility & Technology Coalition (TIMTC) is jointly managed by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the  U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) and the American Trucking Associations (ATA).  The TIMTC is sponsored by the U.S. DOT.  Members include motor carriers, commercial drivers, law enforcement, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, transportation planners and policy makers at the local, state and federal levels.

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Job Alert: Internship assignment – Intelligent Transport Systems — International Road Federation (IRF)

February 11, 2011 at 7:45 pm

Terms of Reference

Internship assignment – Intelligent Transport Systems
February 2011
The International Road Federation
Founded in 1948, the International Road Federation (IRF) is the only world forum advocating better and safer roads through optimum road design and construction. IRF  is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organisation with the mission to promote roads that are safe, economically viable and ecologically friendly.   As a unique global platform bringing together public and private entities, IRF is committed to sound road infrastructure that brings prosperity, fights poverty, furthers education and gives better access to health services.  www.irfnet.org
Context
Clients are increasingly demanding members of the International Road Federation (IRF) for integral solutions to their mobility problems, rather than just a stretch of tarmac. IRF wants to be at the forefront of future developments and strongly believes Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) have a considerable role to play. Despite a growing body of evidence that ITS deployment contributes to  important transport policy objectives such as improving road safety, reducing negative environmental impacts of transport and increasing network efficiency, ITS still suffers from a lack of support from politicians, high level policy makers and the general public. IRF has taken up  this awareness challenge by creating a Policy Committee on ITS, which saw its kick off during the ITS World Congress in New York in 2008.
The mission of the IRF Policy Committee on ITS is to foster the deployment of ITS by supporting the development of national and regional ITS strategies and by encouraging governments to integrate ITS as a major tool to achieve their transport policy objectives.  The Policy Committee  is open to IRF members, national and supranational governments, national and regional authorities, ITS Associations, intergovernmental institutions and other organisations upon invitation by the IRF.
The Policy Committee meets twice a year during working meetings and holds information meetings during the annual ITS World Congress. This year’s world congress will take place in Orlando, Florida in October 2011. By then the Committee is aiming to have produced two deliverables:
  • A lobby document containing political arguments to invest in ITS
  • An ITS Strategy Toolkit: an online kit containing tools and information to set up an effective ITS strategy
A provisional outline of the deliverable can be found in the Annex.  An editorial team consisting of Committee members is being established for the supervision of the production.
Assignment
The intern will be asked to:
  • Elaborate a structure/outline for the Lobby document;
  • Perform background research and establish contacts with  relevant partner organisations to obtain useful inputs, references, case studies, etc.;
  • Draft sections of the Lobby document and support the editorial team in delivering and reviewing sections of the Lobby document;
  • Support and coordinate with the review team for validation purposes;
  • Otherwise assist the ITS Programme Manager in the coordination of the production.
Contact
If you have an interest in this assignment, please send a motivation letter and CV to Caroline Visser at cvisser@irfnet.org.
International Road Federation
2 chemin de Blandonnet
1214 Vernier
Switzerland
Tel. +41 22 306 02 60
Fax. +41 22 306 02 70
www.irfnet.ch
Annex – Terms of Reference deliverables IRF Policy Committee on ITS
Two products are envisaged:
  1. A document containing political arguments to invest in ITS (referred to as Lobby document)
  2. An online kit containing tools and information to set up an effective ITS strategy (referred to as ITS strategy toolkit)
Ad 1 – Lobby document
Target audience: local/national/supra-national politicians and political advisors
Format: attractive, high profile, easy to read (but not void), a “gift”
Tone of voice: positive, promoting ITS from policy point of view
Size: tbd (but compact)
Elements:
  • Overview of how ITS contributes to current policy objectives of safety, sustainability and efficiency in transport (source: SubCom A overview, IBEC and 2DECIDE evaluation libraries for illustrative facts)
  • Research needs (source: survey)
  • Vision 2030, future policy objectives and potential role of ITS (source: workshop)
  • Enablers & barriers (source: case studies, survey)
  • Position statement IRF
Ad 2 – ITS strategy toolkit
Target audience: local/national transport authorities
Format:  online kit, easy accessible, basic, medium profile, extendible
Tone of voice: factual, based on wide experience
Size: tbd
Elements:
  • Generic strategy model (source: SubCom E)
  • Strategy library (IRF)
  • Examples/showcases (source: survey, strategy library)
  • Future possible additions/modules: community of practice, regional focus, policy road map, assessment tool ITS readiness

Event Alert – USDOT’s ITS JPO Bidders Conference for Three Major Projects Including the Safety Pilot Model Deployment

February 10, 2011 at 8:55 pm

US DOT is conducting a Pre-proposal Conference (“Safety Pilot Joint Bidders Conference”) for interested parties to learn about and ask questions regarding the following three current US DOT procurements/solicitations in support of the Safety Pilot Program. US DOT officials will present and discuss the procurement process and requirements for each of the following three planned procurements, as well as answer relevant questions from interested parties.

  • Safety Pilot Test Conductor – Request for Proposals (RFP) DTFH61-11-R-00006 available atwww.FedBizOpps.gov
  • Aftermarket Safety Devices – Request for Applications (RFA) DTFH61-11-RA-00003 available at www.Grants.gov
  • Roadside Equipment – Request for Quotations (RFQ) DTFH61-11-Q-00012 available at www.FedBizOpps.gov

Safety Pilot is intended to establish a real world model deployment test site for enabling wireless communications among vehicles and with roadside equipment for use in generating data to enable driver safety warning systems.  The deployment site will encompass vehicles of various types that include a mix of integrated, retrofit, and aftermarket vehicle safety systems.  The model deployment data generated will be used for establishing safety benefits in support of future policy decisions by US DOT, as well as for use by the broader industry in developing additional connected vehicle applications.

As such, the goals of the Safety Pilot Program are to:

  • Establish benefits data in support of NHTSA 2013 Agency Decision on V2V Communications with Real World Field Data
  • Support real world V2V and V2I safety applications with a data rich environment
  • Create public awareness & determine user acceptance

Anticipated outcomes include:

  • Obtaining empirical data for determining benefits and user acceptance in support of future federal policy actions
  • Establishing a public database of archived road network data for supporting development of additional safety, mobility, and environmental applications
  • Establishing multiple supplier sources for safety devices and roadside infrastructure
  • Develop a better understanding of the operational policy issues associated with the deployment of V2V and V2I applications

Interested parties are invited to attend in person or participate by webinar. Participants are welcome to participate in the full-day conference or any portion of the day.

Date: February 22, 2011
Location: University of California – UC Washington Center
Address: 1608 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 974 – 6200
Time: 8:30 am – 4:30pm Eastern

Registration Form Link: http://www.itsa.org/itsa/files/Safety_Pilot_Bidders_Conference_registration.doc

Agenda(Tenative) – Eastern Time
Registration/sign-in 8:30am
Opening Remarks 9:00-9:15 am
Safety Pilot Test Conductor RFP 9:15-12:00 pm
Lunch Break 12:00-1:00 pm
Aftermarket Safety Devices RFA 1:00-2:30 pm
Break 2:30-3:00 pm
Road Side Equipment RFQ 3:00-4:30 pm

Questions: Interested parties are encouraged to submit questions to US DOT in advance of the Pre-proposal Conference. Please submit questions by COB Wednesday February 16 regarding solicitations to:

US DOT will address questions during the Conference to the extent possible.

RFP Alert – USDOT’s ITS JPO Announces Test Data Sets to Support Dynamic Mobility Applications Development

February 8, 2011 at 11:54 pm

The Real-Time Data Capture and Management Program Announces a Test Data Sets Request for Procurement (RFP) and Request for Applications (RFA), issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on 2/5/11 with the proposal due date of 4:00 PM EDT on 3/15/11.

An initial offering to “Clean-up of Existing Data Sets to Support Dynamic Mobility Applications Development,” was issued on 2/5/11 with the proposal due date of 4:00 PM EDT on 3/15/11.  As a result of this solicitation, FHWA anticipates collecting multiple “cleaned up” research-ready data sets that meet the minimum requirements of this solicitation and program objectives, within available resources.

The Request for Applications (RFA) DTFH61-11-RA-00004 can be found on www.Grants.gov at:
http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/opportunities/instructions/oppDTFH61-11-RA-00004-cfda20.200-instructions.pdf

A solicitation notice (synopsis) for a full and open competition entitled “Test Data Sets to Support Dynamic Mobility Applications Development,” was issued on 2/5/11 with the proposal due date of 4:00 PM EDT on 3/15/11.  The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) intends to make multiple awards to obtain existing well-documented, quality data sets available from recent or ongoing operations, field tests, or simulations of emerging technologies supporting mobility, environment, transit, freight, weather, and other surface transportation research. FHWA intends to award multiple contracts and/or cooperative agreements to fund the following tasks: data clean up of existing data sets, data integration, documentation of data set contents and formats, addition of meta-data to the data set, and provision of data sets in final form to FHWA.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) DTFH61-11-R-00010 can be found on http://www.FedBiz.Opps at:
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=db892596312f21e9508d6ae4f70faf31&tab=core&_cview=1

The Real-Time Data Capture and Management Program is a multimodal program of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office, a program office of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA).Additional information can be found at: http://www.its.dot.gov/

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Given A Chance, What Would You Ask Tesla’s Elon Musk? Time.com Poses 10 Questions On Behalf Of The Readers

January 9, 2011 at 9:41 pm

(Source: Time.com)

Upping the Ante? – Pictures of China’s prototype stealth fighter jet surface ahead of U.S. Defense Secretary’s visit

January 5, 2011 at 8:51 pm

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

The first clear pictures of what appears to be a Chinese stealth fighter prototype have been published online, highlighting China’s military buildup just days before U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates heads to Beijing to try to repair defense ties.

The photographs, published on several unofficial Chinese and foreign defense-related websites, appear to show a J-20 prototype making a high-speed taxi test—usually one of the last steps before an aircraft makes its first flight—according to experts on aviation and China’s military.

China was probably several years behind Russia, whose first stealth fighter, the Sukhoi T-50, made its first flight in January 2010, but that Beijing was catching up faster than expected.

The Chinese prototype looks like it has “the potential to be a competitor with the F-22 and to be decisively superior to the F-35,” said Mr. Fisher. The J-20 has two engines, like the F-22, and is about the same size, while the F-35 is smaller and has only one engine.

China’s stealth-fighter program has implications also for Japan, which is considering buying F-35s, and for India, which last month firmed up a deal with Russia to jointly develop and manufacture a stealth fighter.

Editor’s Note: This development is not only a challenge to the American dominance and technological superiority in the world of military aviation but also a test (and a considerable threat) to many of so-called China’s regional adversaries, especially the ones noted above – Russia, Japan and India.  Anyone aware of the regional geopolitics in South Asia can likely expect China to pass along the technology (at the least, sell these stealth fighters) to its regional-ally Pakistan in the decades ahead, to counter India’s edge with the joint-production of a stealth fighter using Russian technology.  This will not only up the “heat” at a regional level, but will further push the two nations, as well as the entire region, towards another wave of arms buildup. Though there is no mention of the high-altitude capability of this stealth fighter, it would be interesting to watch how China would deploy these fighters along its disputed border regions with India to guard against any threats from the Tibetan side.  Also, the capability of this new war machine to operate from a sea-borne platform (aircraft carrier, which China is building) would definitely test the power balance between the US and the Chinese in the South China Sea. Above all, I believe this development will encourage other nations to accelerate their own efforts to build a stealth fighter.

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Webinar Alert: Join EMBARQ’s Darío Hidalgo for the presentation of “Modernizing Public Transport”

December 10, 2010 at 12:49 am

Title: EMBARQ Interactive Webinar: Darío Hidalgo presents “Modernizing Public Transport”

Date: Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST

Click here to REGISTER

Join Darío Hidalgo, EMBARQ’s Director of Research & Practice, as he presents his new publication “Modernizing Public Transport: Lessons learned from major bus improvements in Latin America and Asia.” Darío will provide an overview of his comprehensive review of major bus improvements in 13 cities. He will summarize common challenges and lessons learned, highlighting key recommendations for successful project planning, decision-making, implementing and operation.

To see Darío’s bio, please visit: http://www.embarq.org/en/about/staff/dario-hidalgo

To download “Modernizing Public Transport,” please visit: http://www.embarq.org/en/modernizing-public-transportation

To learn more about how to join the webinar, please visit: http://support.gotomeeting.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5641&task=knowledge&questionID=5613

Click here to REGISTER

EMBARQ Interactive Webinar: Darío Hidalgo presents “Modernizing Public Transport”

Join us for an interactive webinar on December 14

Please join Darío Hidalgo, EMBARQ’s Director of Research & Practice, as he presents his new publication “Modernizing Public Transport: Lessons learned from major bus improvements in Latin America and Asia.”  Darío will provide an overview of his comprehensive review of major bus improvements in 13 cities. He will summarize common challenges and lessons learned, highlighting key recommendations for successful project planning, decision-making, implementing and operation.

To see Darío’s bio, please visit:  http://www.embarq.org/en/about/staff/dario-hidalgo

To download “Modernizing Public Transport,” please visit:  http://www.embarq.org/en/modernizing-public-transportation

To learn more about how to join the webinar, please visit:http://support.gotomeeting.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5641&task=knowledge&questionID=5613

Title:

EMBARQ Interactive Webinar: Darío Hidalgo presents “Modernizing Public Transport”

Date:

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Time:

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Space is limited.
Reserve your webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/650320507

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Publication Alert: Modernizing Public Transportation – Lessons Learned from Major Bus Improvement Projects in Latin America and Asia

December 9, 2010 at 7:44 pm

(Source: EMBARQ)

Research led by EMBARQ’s Senior Transport Engineer Dario Hidalgo provides key findings and lessons learned from a comprehensive review of major bus improvements in 13 Latin American and Asian cities.

“Modernizing Public Transport,” a 40-page report released in October 2010, is based on research and interviews with planners and public officials in cities and transport agencies around the world.

The report reviews and synthesizes information regarding challenges experienced by transport system decision makers in three key areas: planning, implementation and operations. In order to assist urban transport planners and implementing agencies, the study also provides recommendations on avoiding or mitigating similar difficulties when introducing bus reforms in developing world cities.

The report looks at transportation in 13 cities and will present in-depth case studies of nine of the cities. The first two case studies—profiling Leon and Guadalajara, Mexico—will be available by the end of October. The remaining seven case studies will be published by the end of November, including Bogota and Pereira, Colombia; Curitiba, Brazil; Guayaquil and Quito, Ecuador; Mexico City, Mexico; and Santiago, Chile. The other cities covered in the report are Sao Paulo, Brazil; Beijing, China; Ahmedabad, India; and Jakarta, Indonesia.

Also, don’t forget to check out the two-part Q&A with Dario Hidalgo on TheCityFix.com.   For those who are interested, you can access the official press release here.

Click here to learn more about EMBARQ and it’s awesome work across the globe.

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Job Alert: Chief Information Officer – USDOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)

December 9, 2010 at 2:18 pm

The Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) seeks a Chief Information Officer to join our team.  RITA coordinates the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) research programs and is charged with advancing rigorous analysis and the deployment of cross-cutting technologies to improve our Nation’s transportation system.

RITA is looking for an experienced, motivated, self reliant individual who will lead program/project management, business process engineering, and other assessment activities with an overall objective to improve program performance, accountability, and achieve results.

This position is located in the Research and Innovative Technology Administration’s (RITA), Office of Administration.  The RITA Office of Administration’s mission is to develop administration-wide policies and plans and provides support and assistance to RITA offices.

If you know someone interested in this Washington, D.C. based position with relevant experience and proven results, please encourage them to apply under the attached vacancy announcement.  We are looking for a diverse pool of qualified candidates.

The vacancy announcements can be found on:

Please direct any questions to Human Resources

Auto Wars – American vs. Japanese: Who makes better cars?

December 8, 2010 at 7:17 pm

(Source: Studydriving.com via Infographlove)

Interestingly, the infographic below summarizes the data into this nugget: Americans make better cars than Japanese.  No wonder GM and Ford are making a comeback.  After all, this country love a good comeback.